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Muriel Spark
A Far Cry From Kensington
A Far Cry From Kensington
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'An outstanding novel . . . A Far Cry From Kensington has an effortless, translucent grasp of the spirit of the period' Observer
Peta's review
Anticipating the release of the new biography of Dame Muriel Spark by Frances Wilson, I thought I would reacquaint myself with the Dame’s creative work. Spark was a prolific writer, producing 22 novels, beginning with The Comforters, published in 1957, and ending with The Finishing School, published in 2004. Most of her novels have been republished by Virago Modern Classics; I decided to begin with Spark’s A Far Cry From Kensington, since the Lane had a copy in stock.
After working in Intelligence during WWII, Muriel Spark began her writing career as editor of the London-based journal The Poetry Review. However, her time there was short, as her characteristic outspokenness rankled the older established members of the board. She went on to write several biographies, including those of William Wordsworth and Mary Shelley. Around that time Spark also converted to Roman Catholicism, a decision which seems to have been her impetus for writing novels; according to contemporary novelist Penelope Fitzgerald, “it wasn't until [Spark] became a Roman Catholic ... that she was able to see human existence as a whole, as a novelist needs to do.” Spark's first novel, The Comforters, features strong evidence of the influence of Catholicism. Perhaps Spark's best known novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) is the most explicit example. It endorses the Roman Catholic Church’s mysteries of free choice and the Holy Spirit, in contrast to Miss Brodie’s Calvinist self-belief as the arbiter of her “chosen” students’ destinies. While the influence of Catholic themes is less overt in her later novels, Spark's faith continued to inform both the action of her characters, and an overarching search for a universal moral truth. In the process, her novels typically combine sharp wit, bleak insights and uproariously dark humour.
A Far Cry From Kensington is set in post WWII London and follows the life of Mrs Hawkins during her stay in a boarding house in Kensington. Mrs Hawkins, or Nancy as we are later told, is a twenty-eight-year-old war widow who works as an editor in a rather dodgy publishing house. Wise beyond her years, Nancy recounts the comings and goings of the boarding house residents, and the difficulties of navigating the world of publishing. When she is unceremoniously discharged from her job after calling a talentless writer a “pisseur de copie” (a urinator of journalistic copy), she refused to apologise, loses her job and has great difficulties in securing another one in publishing. Throughout her travails, we continue to warm to her principled, perceptive and unflinchingly honest character, and her authoritative yet endearing voice, as well as to her often humorous but practical advice to colleagues and fellow lodgers.
Robert Plunkett’s review of the novel in the New York Times (1988) deftly captures its charm. He writes that the best way to convey the pleasure this novel gives is to compare it to a wonderful old Alec Guinness movie … it follows the rules of art right down the line and illuminates the human condition, etc. But it also meets a trickier challenge, that of being superb entertainment.
I’m now looking forward to reading Frances Wilson’s biography of a writer whose life was often unconventional, if not tumultuous life. Electric Spark: The Enigma of Dame Muriel, has been recently shortlisted for the prestigious Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction.
Peta
Publisher Review
I can't help it. Sometimes the words just come out and I can't stop them. It feels like preaching the gospel.
When publishing assistant and war widow Nancy Hawkins tells Hector Bartlett he 'urinates frightful prose', the repercussions are swift. Losing not one, but two, much-sought-after literary jobs, Mrs Hawkins finds herself embroiled in a mystery involving anonymous letters, quack remedies and blackmail. Years later, and a far cry from Kensington, she looks back with a sharp and mischievous eye at the cost of telling the truth.
Introduced by Ali Smith.
'Mercurially funny, playful and mischievous' Ali Smith
'I was in heaven reading this book. . . just blissful' Stephen Fry
'Funny, astringent, shrewd, her take on life is wonderfully bracing' William Boyd
'Wonderfully entertaining' Sunday Telegraph
'An outstanding novel . . . A Far Cry From Kensington has an effortless, translucent grasp of the spirit of the period' Observer
'The divine Spark is shining at her brightest . . . Pure delight' Claire Tomalin
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